PRC Establishes New Postal Rate Regulations
The Postal Regulatory Commission issued a long-expected order on Monday that establishes ratemaking regulations for its most commonly used products and those which compete with private companies.
These regulations were mandated by the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) last December.
Last August, the PRC first proposed regulations to implement a new ratemaking and classification system for what it terms “market dominant” and “competitive” mail products. The PRC sought to develop regulations for both product categories, make rate adjustments for market-dominant products and establish a mail classification schedule, which would determine the category in which to place specific products (Direct Newsline, Aug. 17).
In a 155-page document issued nearly eight months before its statutory deadline, the PRC stated that this order “represents the Commission’s initial attempt to fashion a coherent set of regulations implementing the new rate-setting process, an effort that has been guided by PAEA’s bedrock principles, namely flexibility, accountability and transparency.”
The Commission noted that these rules are the result of a process that began last January — soon after passage of the Act–and are formulated partly after receiving feedback from interested parties.
Among other things, this order reaffirms placing a rate cap on market-dominant products.
